Navy Judge Cmdr. Marcus Fulton ruled that President Barack Obama's comments on military sexual assault could affect the sentencing in two cases, according to Stars and Stripes.

During pretrial hearings in the cases, Fulton said “unlawful command influence” derived from Obama's remarks could influence a potential sentencing in the two cases, according to according to court documents obtained by Stars and Stripes. The judge's ruling could have an impact on other sexual assault cases in the military.

On May 7, Obama said he has “no tolerance” for sexual assault in the military.

"I expect consequences,” Obama said. “So I don’t just want more speeches or awareness programs or training, but ultimately folks look the other way. If we find out somebody’s engaging in this, they’ve got to be held accountable – prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period.”

The judge’s pretrial ruling means that if either defendant is found guilty, whether by a jury or a military judge, they cannot receive a bad conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. Sailors found guilty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s Article 120, which covers several sexual crimes including assault and rape, generally receive punitive discharges.

“A member of the public would not hear the President’s statement to be a simple admonition to hold members accountable,” Fulton stated. “A member of the public would draw the connection between the ‘dishonorable discharge’ required by the President and a punitive discharge approved by the convening authority.

“The strain on the system created by asking a convening authority to disregard [Obama’s] statement in this environment would be too much to sustain public confidence.”

Obama has made several comments chastising sexual assault in the military, at one point directing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to "step up our game exponentially" to prevent further incidents. Obama has also expressed concern over how military sexual assaults "threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong."

"That's why we have to be determined to stop these crimes, because they've got no place in the greatest military on Earth," Obama said in a May address to U.S. Naval Academy graduates.

According to an annual report released by the Department of Defense in May, sexual assaults occurred at an average of more than 70 per day in the United States military during 2012.

One of the most popular Obama conspiracy theories (aka the Birther Movement), endorsed (or not denied) by the likes of Tom Delay, Lou Dobbs, Chuck Norris and Liz Cheney, it claims that Obama is not an American citizen, thus rendering his presidency illegitimate, or something. The theory hinges on the false claim that his birth certificate is fake. Birther queen Orly Taitz (a lawyer and dentist from California) continues to lead the march, despite her lawsuit getting thrown out and a $20,000 fine.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), a proponent of many bizarre and outlandish critiques of President Obama, declared in April that the White House was trying to install youth re-education camps.
"It's under the guise of -- quote -- volunteerism. But it's not volunteers at all. It's paying people to do work on behalf of government," said the Minnesota Republican. "I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums."

This one is a doozy. Larry Sinclair, a petty criminal specializing in forgery, spread wild accusations via YouTube involving gay sex, drugs and possible murder committed by Barack Obama. At one point reporters apparently took Sinclair seriously enough to attend a press conference he gave, most remarkable for his lawyer's appearance in a kilt, which he explained was intended to secure comfort for his unusually large sexual organs: "Those at the other end of the spectrum find [pants] quite confining."

In which a group of right-wingers get taken in by a satiric blog post on Barack Obama's college thesis, written ages ago, and frantically presented as real. The post, which was tagged as SATIRE, described how Time Magazine's Joe Klein had obtained ten pages of a thesis written by Barack Obama, in which he wrote about how the Constitution was "inherently flawed." Then Rush Limbaugh and Michael Ledeen presented this story as fact.

A popular theory on right-wing websites like The Free Republic, American Thinker and WorldNetDaily, claiming that educator (and former radical) Bill Ayers helped Obama write "Dreams Of My Father." There is no evidence supporting this claim.

Is Obama the Antichrist? These folks think maybe so. McCain also verged on endorsing this theory during the campaign season with an attack ad called "The One."

A theory that began circulating during the campaign season and has been kept alive by Tea Partiers, and other ultra-conservatives. It's taken different forms over the year (Will Obama be sworn into office on Qur'an??, asks one website.) Most recently Tea Party leader Mark Williams had a meltdown on CNN, and claimed that Obama was an "Indonesian Muslim" and a "welfare thug." According to Obama and those who know him, this is not so.

Ever listened to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" backwards? How about Obama's presidential acceptance speech? This video suggests that the speech, like the Zeppelin song, contains a Satanic message when played in reverse. Go ahead - take a bong hit, try it and tell us what you hear.

Did Hugo Chavez fund the Obama campaign? No. But some people thought so after a Fox News affiliate issued a false report claiming that he did.

One of the few conspiracy theories to go after the Obamas' marriage. The claim is that Michelle banished Barack's female aide (and suspected lover) to the Caribbean. Every person involved, including the woman, says this is false.

Initiated by the author of the Atlas Shrugged blog and claiming that Obama is actually Malcolm X's son. As Ezra Klein pointed out at the time: "Honestly, who wouldn't give Malcolm props for that one?"
Klein continued: "And think there's anyway we can fit Tupac into the bloodline? Or maybe Obama actually is Tupac? You know that whole shooting was some bullshit, right? Incidentally, I see no reason to stop with Malcolm. History is full of great Xs for Barack Obama to be related to. Professor X, which would explain why millions of white people lose their minds in his presence. Weapon X, which would explain the adamantium grafted onto his skeleton. XML, which would explain why it's so easy to structure his data. I'm sure there are others."